Fun Facts!

Dear readers:

Kallista and I are hanging out at the Dusseldorf train station (hbf), waiting for our train, slightly regretting buying our tickets online -- more expensive, it turns out? -- and using the free Starbucks wifi. So... blog post!

Not much happened today, besides our uneventful flight to Dusseldorf, so I'll dedicate this post to some of the small but entertaining things I've seen and learned in each location I've been to so far on my Grand Tour.

(Note that this is all in my limited experience!)

DUBLIN
1) People were, for lack of a better word, folksy. Friendly and nice to tourists. Sometimes very foul-mouthed, either to impress you or to show you that You're On The Same Page, i.e. that you can relax around them. (This is an attitude towards swearing that Kallista and I grew up with in Montana -- which is part of why, when I say "folksy", I refer to the same type of folksiness that you see in the Rocky Mountain West. Part of why I was so utterly charmed by Dublin was because its people reminded me so much of people back home.)
2) Apparently there are insurance advertisements starring leprechauns. Could you get more stereotypical??

LONDON
1) Proper tea is everywhere. (I saw this the last time I was in London, but I'm reiterating for emphasis.) Whether you're at a restaurant, in a hostel, or on an outward-bound flight, there will be proper tea. And they will label it as such. And on that note:
2) Proper everything is everywhere. Even proper popcorn ("Propercorn"). Accept no substitutes.

ROME
1) Trains, depending on location and time of day, may or may not run on the honor system.
2) If you want a bottle of water (that isn't mineral water), or a glass of milk, people get confused.
3) The only difference between a Caffe Latte and a Latte Macchiato is the order in which you pour the milk and the espresso into the glass.
4) In vending machines, soda is stored nose down... like wine. And, on a similar note,
5) The fanciest espresso brand I know of in America -- Lavazza -- is sold in vending machines in Rome.

VATICAN CITY
1) If you visit St Peter's, only take the stairs if you're ready for a long, sweaty, and arduous hike. Otherwise, pay the extra 2 euro! (I took the stairs and loved it -- it made the view much more rewarding -- but beware if you're out of shape or have health problems!)
2) Don't worry if you missed a gift shop... because there's another one around the corner. Oh, and around that corner too. Almost out the gates? Gift shop! On the very top of the basilica? Gift shop!! And almost every one of them is staffed by sweet and helpful nuns.
3) You're hard-pressed to see or buy anything with Pope Benedict on it. It's there, but 90% of the swag has John Paul II on it. The remaining 10% is Pope Francis giving you a thumbs up.
(Is it sacrilegious to call him a total cutie?)

That's it for now! May add more later.

- Beth

Vatican City: Beauty Around Every Corner

Dear readers:

The title of this blog post is not an exaggeration. At all.

We got to see a little bit of Rome, yesterday, before we went to the Vatican. We saw the Piazza del Popolo, which was lovely, and we saw the Villa Borghese and its gardens -- also lovely, and satisfyingly reminiscent of Italian nature paintings I studied in school.

The Piazza --

-- The Gardens --

-- and the Villa.

But none of that -- NONE* -- compares to the Vatican. From when we got off the metro at Ottaviano, to when we left St Peter's Square five hours later, everything was beautiful. All through the Vatican Museum, and then all through St Peter's Basilica, I was blown away. A scholar could spend his entire career studying just one room of some of these buildings.

I wish I could let the photos speak for themselves, but there's something about being there. Seeing the immensity of these spaces. Realizing that every square centimeter of the rooms surrounding you is covered with ancient art -- from the frescoes on the ceilings, to the tapestries on the walls, to the mosaics on the floors.

Absolutely mind-blowing. Just look at the scale of the above picture (in St Peter's Basilica). I envisioned the Basilica interior being about half that size. But, for scale, look at how tiny those people are. There's a feeling, throughout these spaces, of being a tiny speck in the immensity that is the beauty of the world -- exactly what one wants in this sort of religious space!

Heading to Cologne tomorrow to visit one of Kallista's friends. Would elaborate on our Vatican experience -- e.g. on the insane hike up to the top of St Peter's, or on the entertaining exhibits in the Vatican museum on Vatican postage and the Popemobile/Papal vehicles throughout history -- but I've got to rest up for tomorrow's flight.

Much love to you all readers, and I'll do my best to update you again tomorrow!

- Beth


*Well, maybe the Coliseum does. But we only saw that for a few seconds, in the dark, en route to our camp. That was quite an experience!

And On The Seventh Day, We Rest.

Dear readers:

In Rome. Day 7 of our European escapades. Sunday. And we are relaxing.

Kallista joked today that when in Rome, you should do as the Romans do by living a normal life and getting everyday tasks done -- to which I replied, "So how is it possible to vacation in Rome??" But either way, here we are, staycationing and doing work.

We arrived late last night, and took a shuttle bus to a campground that Kallista found online a few weeks ago -- a bit like a classier, Italian version of an RV park. We've got a closed-off room (within a two-room cabin) all to ourselves.

Contained within: Two small beds, one set of shelves, and two wall outlets. Showers and toilets are in another building a short walk away, but are very clean and high quality, and there are several shops and a bar-restaurant on the grounds -- plus a bus that runs to the center of the city every half hour. Overall much, much more resort-like than your average campground in the American West! And a fantastic investment for how little we paid for our three nights here.

The place is teeming full of flowers and trees and I constantly hear the chirping of birds and cicadas. Reminds me a bit of my grandmother's old neighborhood in northern Louisiana.

Our neighbors are entirely European; the only time I've heard native English being spoken here was with a British accent. So as insulated as this place is, I feel like we've found a very European place to relax -- a hidden treasure.

It's pretty hot outside right now; 85 degrees Fahrenheit and humid, but with a nice breeze. Kallista is relaxing in the cabin while I'm hanging out near the bar/restaurant (pictured above) and using their wifi (4 euros for 24 hrs). Drinking a 1.5L bottle of Nestle water, sitting amongst the foliage, and reminded of my summer in Alexandria -- and, in the back of my mind, sending good thoughts to Egypt and all my friends there in this time of uncertainty and transition.

Once the heat of the day has passed, we're going to head to the Piazza del Popolo and wander the area. After that, food (presumably) and going back to the campsite to do more work. Tomorrow, after recharging, we will see the Vatican -- so expect plenty of photos then!

Much love to all of you readers --

- Beth


(Note: posted at least five hours after written. Not that that time difference matters much to most of you!)

Real History in Canterbury, Kent

Dear readers:

The friend of mine who's hosting me and Kallista was teasing me the other day, about how cute it is when Americans get excited about European history... since American history goes back about the length of the blink of an eye, by comparison. But today, I think it was legitimate for me to have been so enamored with the history of Canterbury.

The town is medieval. Medieval, I tell you!! 800-900 years old! And did I mention: Canterbury Tales? The Anglican Church? "The Canterbury Scene" of really good 1970s progressive rock musicians? (Was disappointed that there wasn't a museum dedicated to the last item on that list, by the way.)

Anyways. It was a beautiful day. Perfect for a historic river tour!

Went to the Greyfriars historic Franciscan chapel after that -- and the lovely gardens in the surrounding area. (One of my favorite parts of the day. Very meditative.)

Then: Canterbury Cathedral!

How amazingly majestic. As were the cloisters...

... and every other part of it. Stunningly beautiful. I took millions of pictures. We made sure to listen to choral evensong, too, and, of course, it was flawless.

Before evensong, we were meandering through the Cathedral, and I looked up, innocently, only to be struck dumb by this:

Absolutely breathtaking. The fact that I had no idea it was there, made it even more phenomenal. Reminded me a bit of the ceiling of the Muhammed Ali mosque in Cairo. Same appeal, same sense of the immensity of God in the universe. The only difference was: the ceiling in the mosque was high to amplify sermons and calls to prayer, whereas apparently the above served as a trap door, for easy access to the cathedral bells.

Not much time for more news -- just that tomorrow night is my flight to Rome and I'm incredibly nervous -- so I'll end with a quote, relevant to the ceiling, and to the connection between beauty and spirituality that's so easy to find in places like Canterbury Cathedral:

"Mughal ceilings, let your mirrored convexities
Multiply me at once under your spell tonight."
- Agha Shahid Ali

A bit of modern history -- i.e. a recent poem -- to complement the above 900-year-old art.

More tomorrow!

- Beth

Fortuitous!: July 4 Abroad

(Note in advance: I took the risk of taking photos on my phone today, so yes, there are pictures in this entry!)


Dear readers:

This post is called "Fortuitous!" not just because it's one of my favorite words, but because the pattern of today was fortuitousness:

1) When I decided to take this trip abroad, I was able to fit London into the trip, and was, amazingly, able to visit the same two friends I visited in London last year, in the beginning of the blog. Pretty phenomenal that I've been able to see them again so soon! One of the two is kindly housing me and Kallista at her flat, and has been an excellent hostess.

2) The friend who's hosting us had her birthday yesterday! We didn't have any sort of blow-out celebration, because she's having a party after we leave, but we did go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant of her choosing.

Today was the most fortuitous of all; the two friends, Kallista, a friend of one of the two (who was visiting from Italy!), and I, all spent the better part of the afternoon together, eating lunch, wandering the Thames, and talking about anything and everything: psychology, public object color choices in the UK vs. the US, "units of transportation", types of mosaics, the Moominhouse, etc.

We visited Southwark Cathedral:

 as well as St. Katharine Pier:

and then we split up. Kallista and our hostess and I went as a group to a spoken word poetry event called "Bang Said The Gun". Fortuitously (again!), we were the only Americans there, and were called out on it -- teasingly, but lovingly. And all the while, in celebration of my home country, I had a delicious American brew.

Good times all around.

That's all for now. Tomorrow: Canterbury!

- Beth

Boarding the Failboat in Dublin

Dear readers:

On a ferry from Dublin, Ireland to Holyhead, Wales, where I will take a train to London. The ride is excellent -- incredibly comfortable and full of little tiny restaurants(!) -- so it is not the titular Failboat. The Failboat is what I boarded when

1) I accidentally deleted over half the photos I took during my day in Dublin; and
2) I discovered that I forgot to bring the cord that would plug my camera into my computer, allowing me to upload photos.

So, needless to say, there will be no photos in this post! Hopefully I can buy a replacement cord while I'm in London -- and if not, I'll take as many photos as I'm comfortable taking on my cell phone. (I am highly protective of my dear Mr. Carson and don't want him to be stolen by European pickpockets, so I'm avoiding that photo backup option for now.)

 On the bright side... Dublin was wonderful. Friendly people, gorgeous architecture. As sweet and lovely as the media would have you believe! Unlike in London -- the only other city in Europe that I've visited til now -- people were very friendly towards tourists and seemed genuinely happy to see them there. The man Kallista and I stayed with (through airbnb) was no exception; he had breakfast set up for us when we arrived, as well as when we left. Talking with him was great, too. Very nice man, who apparently works at a theatre in the area. He was shocked when Kallista and I told him we're from a state the size of Germany with only a million residents!

After chatting with him, we decided that the two places we most wanted to visit in Dublin were Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced "Kil-MAIN-um Jail"), and the Trinity College Library, where the Book of Kells is located. Kilmainham Gaol was absolutely worth the money... but seeing the Book of Kells was not. It was overcrowded, underwhelming, you had to enter AND exit through the (tacky) gift shop, and there were signs everywhere warning visitors against pickpockets. I took no photos in the Library because I was so concerned about keeping track of my things, and I accidentally deleted all my photos of Kilmainham Gaol. (But that's okay, because apparently if you watch the movie "In The Name Of The Father" with Daniel Day-Lewis, or if you watch any of the execution scenes from "The Tudors", you will see the Gaol!)

All in all I very much enjoyed Dublin. Not sure if there's much else in the city that I'm dying to see, but my stay did make me love Ireland, and I would love to return there to vacation, someday.

That's all for now! More on my trip to London -- along with photos, hopefully -- will come later.

- Beth

p.s. Random fact about Ireland: they have a chain of stores called "Spar", roughly equivalent to CVS in the US. But even though the store is ubiquitous there, if you ask a Dubliner why Spar shares a name with something you do in a dojo, they will have absolutely no idea!

p.s.s. Note: This post was published long after it was written; I had to leave the ferry shortly after writing it and had no access to wifi until that night.

The Grand Tour

Dear readers:

For those of you who know me, it should come as no surprise that when I asked myself, "Should I start a new travel blog for my trip to Europe, or return to my old one?", my immediate answer was "Go back to Excellent Escapades -- because why start something when you can fix something to serve the same purpose?" So, here I am again, about to head off on a multi-week road trip through Europe to celebrate my graduation.

To briefly summarize: I will be visiting Dublin, London, Canterbury, Rome, Vatican City, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Heidelberg, and possibly Amsterdam and/or Strasbourg -- in that order, in a little over two weeks. I'll be traveling by plane, train, and bus -- first with my best friend from high school, Kallista, and then with my friend Ina, who I have known for years online but have yet to meet in person. Ina and I, both history buffs, jokingly call this trip "The Grand Tour".

I won't give too much away regarding what exactly we'll be doing in Europe, because I want to add some suspense for you readers, but, needless to say, there will be plenty of escapades, and hopefully some excellent photos. I aim to entertain, after all!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll enjoy what's to come!

- Beth


p.s. The farther back you go in my blog archives, the fewer photos you will see -- because for whatever reason, blogger.com decided to delete most of them. I've recovered some of them, but not all. Sorry about that, folks.
(On a related note: Please let me know if you have any idea how to get those photos back, or why they were deleted!)